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Géza Zichy (23 July 184914 January 1924) was a Hungarian
In spite of his limitations, Zichy had a successful career as both a concert pianist and a composer for the next 40 years. He gave entire concerts playing music only for the left hand, the proceeds of which he gave to charity as he was independently wealthy. He was known for his artistic sensitivity as well as dextrous playing and had several admirers; including Franz Liszt who wrote glowing reviews of his performances in letters to friends. The Viennese critic
*2016 : Acte Préalable AP0372 – Géza Zichy - Complete Piano Transcriptions (Artur Cimirro
*2015 : Parlaphone Records - Solo (Liszt/Zichy: Liebesträume Nr 3), (Nicholas McCarthy)
Liszt/Zichy: Liebesträume Nr 3
(YouTube: played by Nicholas McCarthy)
Schubert/Liszt/Zichy: Erlkönig
(YouTube: played by Nicholas McCarthy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zichy, Geza 1849 births 1924 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Hungarian male musicians Classical pianists who played with one arm Hungarian amputees Hungarian classical composers Hungarian classical pianists Male classical pianists Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian opera composers Hungarian Romantic composers Male opera composers Pupils of Franz Liszt Geza
Géza Zichy (23 July 184914 January 1924) was a Hungarian composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and was also renowned as the world's first professional one-armed pianist.Harold C. Schonberg, ''The Great Pianists'', p. 252 Zichy also published an autobiography ("Aus meinem Leben", 3 vols, 1911–24) and some poetry.
Biography
Zichy was born in Sztára Castle in 1849. He came from a noble family and held the title Count Vasony-Keö. Zichy lost his right arm in a hunting accident at age 14 or 15. Instead of despair, he doubled his strive, to form himself into a true piano virtuoso. “''I closed the door,''” he says in his memoirs, “a''nd got dressed alone. The door handle, the furniture, my legs, my teeth all helped. At lunch I did not eat any food that I could not cut myself and did not accept the slightest service. Today I peel apples, cut my nails myself, dress alone, ride, drive four-in-hand, I am a good hunter with bullets and buckshot, and I even learned to play the piano a bit. You can be independent with one hand, you just have to know how.''" So, he persevered by writing and performing piano music for the left hand. In 1873 he began six years of study withFranz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
. He also studied under Robert Volkmann
Friedrich Robert Volkmann (6 April 1815 – 30 October 1883) was a German composer.
Life
Robert Volkmann was born in Lommatzsch near Meißen, Germany. His father, a music director for a church, trained him in music to prepare him as a successor. ...
.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Vol. IX, p.414
In spite of his limitations, Zichy had a successful career as both a concert pianist and a composer for the next 40 years. He gave entire concerts playing music only for the left hand, the proceeds of which he gave to charity as he was independently wealthy. He was known for his artistic sensitivity as well as dextrous playing and had several admirers; including Franz Liszt who wrote glowing reviews of his performances in letters to friends. The Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...
, who pulled no punches, said Zichy's playing was "the greatest marvel of modern times on the piano".
From 1891 to 1894 he was Intendant of the Royal Hungarian Opera. His appointment spelled the end of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
's term as music director. He died in Budapest in 1924, aged 74.
Works
Among Zichy's many compositions was a left-hand piano concerto and several operas. In addition to his music career, Zichy also worked as a lawyer. An entire chapter is devoted to Zichy in ''Piano Music for One Hand'' by Theodore Edel (Indiana University Press), a comprehensive survey of music written for those pianists who have the use of only one hand. The Brazilian composer and virtuoso pianist Artur Cimirro has recorded Zichy's entire piano output for the CD labelActe Préalable
Acte Préalable is a Polish classical music record label founded in 1997. The name makes reference to an unfinished mystical composition by Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скря ...
. According to Jonathan Welsh:''„it is hard to believe there is only one hand at work here as the level of detail to be heard is incredible”'' or ''„We finish with the impossibly difficult arrangement of Schubert's ''Erlkönig
"Erlkönig" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking, a king of the fairies. It was originally written by Goethe as part of a 1782 Singspiel, .
"Erlkönig" has been ...
'' for left hand. Here all four voiced sections of Schubert’s masterpiece are presented with just five fingers. The effect is incredible, not just for the pianist; it also shows off Zichy's considerable powers as an arranger.”'' Zichy's compositions are also part of the repertoire of British pianist Nicholas McCarthy.
;Operas
* ''A vár története'' (1888)
* ''Alár'' (1896)
* ''Roland mester'' (1899)
* ''Nemo'' (1905)
* ''Rákóczi Ferenz'' (1909)
* ''Radostó'' (1912)
;Ballet
* ''Gemma'', ballet
;Vocal
* ''Dolores'', cantata (1889)
* songs
;Transcriptions for the left hand alone
* J. S. Bach - Chaconne BWV 1004
* F. Chopin - Polonaise in A major op. 40 no. 1
* F. Liszt - Nocturne no. 3 'Liebestraum'
* Fantasie über Motive aus Wagner 'Tannhäuser'
;Arrangements for the left hand alone
* Rákóczy March
;Piano left-hand
* Sonata
* Four Studies
* Six Studies (1878; preface by Liszt)
* Deux Morceaux
* Liebestraum-Fantasie
* Concerto in E flat for piano and orchestra (1902)
;Piano two hands
* Liszt-March
* Idyll
* Nász-Gavotte
* Entrance and King's Anthem (from the opera Alár)
Discography
*2016 : Acte Préalable AP0371 – Géza Zichy - Complete Piano Works (Artur Cimirro*2016 : Acte Préalable AP0372 – Géza Zichy - Complete Piano Transcriptions (Artur Cimirro
*2015 : Parlaphone Records - Solo (Liszt/Zichy: Liebesträume Nr 3), (Nicholas McCarthy)
References
Sources
External links
* *Liszt/Zichy: Liebesträume Nr 3
(YouTube: played by Nicholas McCarthy)
Schubert/Liszt/Zichy: Erlkönig
(YouTube: played by Nicholas McCarthy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zichy, Geza 1849 births 1924 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Hungarian male musicians Classical pianists who played with one arm Hungarian amputees Hungarian classical composers Hungarian classical pianists Male classical pianists Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian opera composers Hungarian Romantic composers Male opera composers Pupils of Franz Liszt Geza